The UK is a longstanding partner of the World Food Programme (WFP) and we are in regular dialogue to monitor the landscape as global funding shifts. As a member of the Global Network Against Food Crises, the UK is also working with WFP to support analysis and reporting to help inform international responses. On levels of UK funding to WFP, I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 3 December 2025 in response to Question HL12148.

The UK is deeply concerned by rising levels of acute food insecurity and catastrophic hunger, and we are a key donor to the World Food Programme, with funding since 2023 as follows:

2023: 290,747,871 USD

2024: 610,111,395 USD

2025: 410,441,878 USD at last reporting date.

Funding for 2026 will be confirmed in due course. We are also working with partners to improve early warning systems, and invest in strengthening countries' resilience to food crises in the longer-term.

The Minister for Development met Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), during her recent trip to Paris, and recognises the important work of the WFP. Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.

The Statistics on International Development (SID) National Statistics report, published on the gov.uk website, provides an overview of all official UK spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA). ODA is an international measure and is collected and reported on a calendar year basis. Final UK ODA figures for 2024 will be published in Autumn 2025, via Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2024.

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is the largest and most severe globally. Tens of millions of people require life-saving aid with almost 640,000 people projected to be experiencing catastrophic famine conditions. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Ministers and officials are in regular communications with representatives from the World Food Programme (WFP). On 10 March, the Minister for Development met the WFP Country Director for Sudan alongside other senior United Nations staff. More recently, WFP staff participated in a UK organised roundtable meeting about the crisis in Sudan as part of preparations for the UK's Sudan London Conference, taking place on 15 April.

The situation for humanitarian actors in Gaza is untenable. The United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) remains the backbone of the humanitarian response, which is why the Government announced an additional £7 million of UK assistance to UNRWA's Flash Humanitarian Appeal for Gaza on 2 December. It is hugely concerning that UNRWA has been forced to pause aid deliveries through its main crossing point at Kerem Shalom because of safety concerns. The World Food Programme, for which we also announced £6m of UK assistance on 2 December, reports that barely any food has entered northern Gaza for over 50 days. This is unacceptable. We continue to press Israel to end its aid restrictions and ensure the UN and humanitarian partners can work safely and effectively. This was reiterated in the Foreign Secretary's recent joint letter, with French and German counterparts, to Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar. I raised these issue's with Deputy Foreign Minister Haskel on 05 December and met with Mr Philippe Lazzarini, the UN's Commissioner-General of UNWRA in Doha on 08 December.

The food security and livelihood component of the UN's Somalia appeal, which includes World Food Programme (WFP) operations, is less than 45 per cent funded. Vulnerable communities are bearing the brunt of this funding shortfall with 17 per cent of Somalis facing food insecurity. The UK remains a key humanitarian donor, including to the WFP. Last year in Somalia the UK reached 1.4 million people with humanitarian assistance including nearly 370,000 people with food aid. This year the UK will allocate £38 million in life-saving humanitarian aid. The UK continues to leverage its leadership role in Somalia to mobilise funding from across the international community to address critical needs and support longer-term resilience.

The UK condemns all attacks on humanitarian infrastructure. In July, through a UN Press statement, the UK along with international partners, called on all actors in the conflict and the Myanmar Armed Forces in particular, to respect international law and to prioritise the protection of humanitarian infrastructure. We monitor the situation in Rakhine State closely.

We continue to support the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

On 20 March, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK has funded WFP to provide 2,000 tons of food aid, enough to feed 275,000 people in Gaza. This is our largest delivery of aid to Gaza during the current crisis.

We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it, including through UN agencies and British charities.

There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza. We have trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we will continue to support the United Nations World Food Programme to deliver humanitarian aid. We have been clear that Israel must take concrete steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid across Gaza including allowing prolonged humanitarian pauses and opening more routes into Gaza.

We need Israel to ensure the UN has the people, vehicles, equipment and fuel to distribute aid safely across Gaza, and to open the Erez Crossing to allow direct access to the north of Gaza.

We continue to call for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.

The conflict is having a devastating impact on the Sudanese people, with 24.8 million in need of assistance. The UK is providing £36 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan in 2023/2024. We are also helping those fleeing to neighbouring countries, with £7.75 million to South Sudan, this includes a £3.5 million allocation for food security in the Maban refugee camps, and £15 million to Chad. The UK remains fully committed to ensuring safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in Sudan. We are working with the UN, other donors and humanitarian agencies to coordinate the effective delivery of aid. This includes putting pressure on parties to abide by their commitments under International Humanitarian Law and to allow lifesaving humanitarian aid to reach the Sudanese people.

We share WFP's alarm at their analysis describing an "unprecedented funding crisis" in food assistance and the extraordinarily difficult decisions that WFP has to take in order to address it, including reducing rations. The UK supports WFP's efforts to diversify its donor base to fill current funding gaps, and the Agency's increased focus on innovative partnerships and solutions - including with the private sector and International Financial Institutions. The UK is continuing to prioritise its support to the humanitarian agencies, including core, unearmarked funding which supports rapid responses, underfunded emergencies and the populations that are most in need.

We share WFP's alarm at their analysis and ask the Agency to prioritise those who are most in need and the most food insecure, basing its decisions on its own internal assessments and internationally-recognised tools like the Integrated Phase Classification. We urge WFP to keep improving its targeting to ensure the most vulnerable segments of the population are reached with adequate support.

We are supportive of WFP's efforts to expand its donor base beyond traditional donors (including other Governments, International Financial Institutions and the private sector) and urge them to continue investing in efficiencies to ensure scarce resources are used in the most effective manner possible.

UK officials recently discussed World Food Programme (WFP) projected operational shortfalls for 2023 and 2024 in Rome. WFP's new Management Plan will be submitted for approval to the Executive Board in November. The Board, including the UK, is asking WFP to "do better with less", further improving prioritisation and targeting to ensure that the most vulnerable and at risk are not left behind. We are currently discussing the matter with other donors, including WFP's largest government donor - the USA - and other stakeholders like the World Bank. We and our partners wish not only to increase humanitarian funding globally, but also to help reduce humanitarian need in the first place, by strengthening activities through WFP and others that build community resilience to shocks - for example through anticipatory action.

FCDO is implementing our 2021 Nutrition for Growth commitment to spend at least £1.5 billion between 2022 and 2030 on addressing the nutrition needs of mothers, babies and children, tackling malnutrition in humanitarian emergencies, integrating nutrition into multiple sectors including health, climate and economic development partnerships and making sure nutrition is central to the FCDO's wider work.

The UK encourages governments in countries with a high burden of malnutrition to allocate additional public resources in order to meet the 2025 World Health Assembly and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets.

FCDO has ongoing discussions with G7 partners as well as multilateral agencies, including the World Food Programme and UNICEF through the Scaling Up Nutrition movement. In addition, Andrew Mitchell, Minister for Development and Africa, co-chairs the Action Review Panel (ARP) on child wasting alongside the United States and UNICEF. The ARP coordinates collective action on reducing severe acute malnutrition.

To move the dial on world hunger, the UK is hosting an event in the Autumn on tackling hunger and malnutrition.

In Spring 2023, US investigations uncovered large-scale nationwide food diversion schemes. In June, the US paused their food assistance to Ethiopia, which constitutes over 80 percent of the total. The pause will remain in place until adequate oversight, monitoring and risk mitigation measures are addressed. We are part of the UN Aid Diversions Taskforce and have been pressing for a humanitarian system-wide investigation. We are working with our representatives to the UN and World Bank to find solutions.

On 24 May, the Minister for Development and Africa announced £21.7 million in humanitarian aid to help address people's urgent needs in Sudan. Earlier this month, the Government also announced £5 million to help meet the needs of refugees and returnees in South Sudan and Chad; this includes £2 million in South Sudan, of which £1.5 million has been allocated to the World Food Programme for food security and nutrition in border areas. Details of other donors' contributions to the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan can be found here: https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/1123/summary. The UK remains a committed donor to Sudan, having spent over £250 million in humanitarian aid in the last five years. The UK Government is monitoring the current situation in Sudan closely, including the humanitarian and security impacts of the conflict on Sudan's neighbouring countries.